Is my bucket too small?

[TalonDancer]

...or are these rocks too big

We've been soft rock mining* some limestone ledges to locate the rain water collection tanks behind the "soon to be built" garage. These are some of the larger rocks we are collecting for landscape use. The smaller ones will be used in dry stack rock walls, etc.

Luckily mother nature has already broken the limestone ledges into blocks. I just hope she's been kind and made sure they all fit in my FEL bucket or on the pallet fork

Talon Dancer

* soft rock mining -> no explosives

 

[johnk]

Keep gnawing at them. They look to be a good fit for your bucket.

 

[davitk]

Looks to me like a good excuse to play with dynamite......

 

[crazyal]

You call those rocks, lol? What I know about rocks are there's always a big brother somewhere close by. The largest one I had was about the size of a full size truck. It took the dozer and the backhoe together to roll it out of the hole on top of one of the hills on the driveway. I was able to push it down the hill where it started to roll (luckily off the driveway) and cut through a 12" diameter Hemlock before stopping. Yea it took me a good half hour before I stopped laughing.

Those rocks look like they will make one nice looking wall(s). Mine are round and don't stack very well. Want to trade?

 

[TalonDancer]

You call those rocks, lol? What I know about rocks are there's always a big brother somewhere close by. .... Those rocks look like they will make one nice looking wall(s). Mine are round and don't stack very well. Want to trade?

So you're saying my bucket is too small

FWIW The glaciers didn't reach Texas, so our rocks may be smaller but a bit more useful as building material

The ones in the bucket are Lower Cretaceous age limestone (circa 100 MA -- the age of dinosaurs) deposited in a shallow quiescent sea, then gradually uplifted and eventually exposed to erosion by the Balconies fault system during the Cenozoic (circa 65 MA - the age of mammals).

So our rocks are not only flatter, hence more useful for rock walls, etc.... The 3D jigsaw puzzle we're laying out on the grasslands could contain the tracks of the ancestors of our feathered friends

Talon Dancer

ps of course they don't roll very well, so they haven't whacked any trees - yet

 

[Adam23]

The ones in the bucket are Lower Cretaceous age limestone (circa 100 MA -- the age of dinosaurs) deposited in a shallow quiescent sea, then gradually uplifted and eventually exposed to erosion by the Balconies fault system during the Cenozoic (circa 65 MA - the age of mammals).

You watch a lot of History/National Geographic channels huh?

 

[bandit67]

The ones in the bucket are Lower Cretaceous age limestone (circa 100 MA -- the age of dinosaurs) deposited in a shallow quiescent sea, then gradually uplifted and eventually exposed to erosion by the Balconies fault system during the Cenozoic (circa 65 MA - the age of mammals).

Wow, you can tell all that just by examining them once you've dug them up?!? Are you a CSI?

 

[Egon]

Will you be cutting or shaping any of those limestone rocks?

 

[crazyal]

You watch a lot of History/National Geographic channels huh?

I'm betting he stayed at a Holiday Inn.

 

[TalonDancer]

You watch a lot of History/National Geographic channels huh?

Wow, you can tell all that just by examining them once you've dug them up?!? Are you a CSI?

I'm betting he stayed at a Holiday Inn.

ROTFLMAO! I deserved that

FWIW ALL of the rocks you are likely to find in the Texas Hill Country* would fit my previous description. And yes it could have been copied from any of a number of sources, including a local Holiday Inn tourist brochure

BTW here is the soft rock "mine face" this afternoon. The FEL bucket is sitting on the edge of a 6' thick limestone ledge which will be the foundation for the water tanks. The 2-3' thick tan layer above is a chalky clay. The 1-1.5' thick dark limestone layer is the source of the larger rocks. Above that is a thinner 6-8" limestone layer that yields brick to cinder block size rocks. We now have mined roughly 10 feet into the hill side and still have 10+' to go.

Talon Dancer

* The Texas Hill Country is a large area West of I 35 (roughly between San Antonio and Dallas) know for its clear water rivers and creeks, gentle relief and friendly folks

 

[TalonDancer]

Will you be cutting or shaping any of those limestone rocks?

Most of the larger rocks will be freestanding. Most of the smaller rocks wiil be used to make low dry stack walls. So we will probably have to shape the unseen faces to get them to sit flat or fit into the wall. But the idea is to have the rocks appear to be completely natural

Talon Dancer

 

[crazyal]

To be honest I wish I had you bucket (and the tractor). lol. I just can't make up my mind. Do I sell my BH and get something larger (4240) or do I keep it. If I keep it I really don't need a fel but if I ever sold it or upgraded the lack of a fel would hurt value wise.

I've been look all around for nice block shaped rocks to build some retaining walls but so far all I have found are smaller round ones and large ones that I'm lucky if I can move. That rock in my avatar broke off from the ledge down near my neighbor's shop. It's the closest thing to stackable that I've seen and it weights too much. Here's a better picutre of it, mind you that it's a Case 580K and the rock goes to the bottom of the bucket.

Of course now I'm really thinking I need help. I was alright being envious of your Kubota, now I am of your rocks too.

 

[davitk]

sure hope your tractor dealer threw in a can of Kubota orange touch-up for that too small bucket of yours

 

[crazyal]

Had to find it.

 

[TalonDancer]

Had to find it.

OK I conceed. You've got bigger rocks than I do

BTW Is that a "head ache bar" on the back of the CASE bucket. It looks like it makes the bucket much larger for carrying rocks etc.

Talon Dancer

 

[Egon]

What really interests me is what kind of paint it takes to stand up to moving those rocks and not showing scratches.

Feathers and wedges can be used to make large rocks smaller!

 

[mikim]

The Texas Hill Country is a large area West of I 35 ....I've always found it interesting how much the ground changes from east Austin to west Austin. On the west side of the Balcones fault you have all that limestone and shrub trees and on the east side I have big trees, lots of clay and round rocks sized from baseball to basketball size .....and LOTS of 'em. Actually the ground I just bought 3 years ago is in a valley and we actually have some good dirt on top of the clay and very few rocks at all. By comparison the ground we have on "rocky hill" has so many that you can't hardly plant a wood post without using lots of concrete to hold it.

 

[TalonDancer]

What really interests me is what kind of paint it takes to stand up to moving those rocks and not showing scratches.

Limestone is actually quite soft and slightly brittle. We have to be very careful not to mar or break the rocks with the FEL or back-hoe. You can see the light colored scratches I've made with the back-hoe by accident.

FWIW The large rocks we've extracted so far are from the weathered edge of the thick dark layer. The underlying clay had been weathered away allowing the overlying limestone to tilt and shift a bit. The plants and animals (there was a small den under the two in the bucket) took advantage of these "cracks" and wore away the edges so they are slightly rounded.

I do leave paint on these rocks but only when I make a mistake or when nearly their full weight is being supported by a small area.

Feathers and wedges can be used to make large rocks smaller!

Or flowers, grasses and shrubs it just takes more time

Talon Dancer

 

[rdsaustintx]

I suspected you were in Texas when I saw the first photo. Nothing in profile, but then y'all talked it up.

Looks like Glen Rose formation (from I-35 to darn near El Paso). Alternating layers of limestone and dolomite; forms 'stairsteps' by natural weathering. You can put a six-story building on that rock outcrop.

Interesting factoid: The Glen Rose is the most stable formation in N. America. Building codes say there is ZERO seismic risk in central Texas, which is extremely rare.

(wish I knew as much about tractors as dirt)

Russell in the Fault Zone

 

[TalonDancer]

...Looks like Glen Rose formation (from I-35 to darn near El Paso). Alternating layers of limestone and dolomite; forms 'stairsteps' by natural weathering. You can put a six-story building on that rock outcrop....

That's the Upper Glen Rose to you sir.

On the crest of the ridge (roughly 200 ft up from the "quarry") we have remnants of Edwards outcropping.

Talon Dancer